Journey: The Truths of the Mountain
by Tallbain Kreutz
Summary: A mountain top sparks the fire of adventure into the heart of a strange robed figure. Will this long tiresome path lead to the truth of its existance, or cause its utter ruin. Learn the truth and history of this epic Journey. Based on the award-winning game of the same name by Thatgamecompany.
1. Prologue: The Call

**DISCLAIMERS: Journey is not mine. This is merely my interpretation of the game "Journey", a creation of ****Thatgamecompany**** for the PS3. In this story, I plan to dwell in the nameless regions of the game, with recreation of the game play, environment, music, and majesty of the universe that is Journey. Also, I plan on making small voiced interaction with "players" of the game, stressing the online gaming aspect of the game. I will do it justice, I promise. Not to offend fans to the game, interaction with "players" will remain as chirps. As for moments when cut scenes do come in, I plan on making a script at that point to fully voice my thoughts of the lessons learned: the history, the meaning of certain symbols, and why the game is how it is. Please note, this is purely fan made. Any names made up are purely to differentiate one entity from another. I do hope you enjoy my interpretation. Now, press start O.~**

**(BGM: The Call - ****Journey™ Original Soundtrack from the Video Game)**

"…_Where…am I?"_

A pair of eyes opens up slowly to the sight of bronze sand just an inch away from their focal point. A head moves slightly only to be blocked from an immense amount sand entrapping the entire body.

"_Aghhh…it's too heavy here…" _

A haunting gale of wind picks up spreading even more sand along the buried body. Feeling a sense of sinking from the incoming weight, the body begins to panic.

"_Help! Please! I'm trapped!"_

The body cries out helplessly, hearing the wind pick up and mock them from ever escaping its sudden grave. The heat of the sand intensifies with the scorching heat the air floods the body's senses with. It struggles with a passion, but only sinks further down as if smothered in quicksand. The body cries out once more before feeling limp and fading from its few seconds of life.

"_Please… Don't leave me here…"_

As if by magic or by divine intervention, the small pleading prayer was answered, as a new wind sails just overhead from the place of the uttered wish. It soared past the buried being while following an overwhelming torch of light that blew away all the sand that buried it, releasing its head and upper body. Giving off a warm sensation, hundreds of times more bearable than the arid burning sands and air, the light rejuvenated the being albeit blinded by its miraculous brilliance. As its eye sight began to focus, the being blinked from the harsh glare of the sun and gasped from the mass amount of sand that neighbored its body. _Where am I_, it questioned to itself. Looking down for a moment, it saw that it had plenty of legroom to actually stand, and as it took its lift above the ground level of sand, it was taken back from the form that it had. Roughly 5'1", the being was fashioned in a crimson red cloak that clung onto the very top of its shoulders and danced whimsically to the blowing air at its knees. And oddly enough, the being's entire body seems to be of a matching red torso, lower body and legs, made of the same material as its cloak. The only difference was a very small detail of gold hem that was etched and haloed around the cloak.

_What is this? Am I wearing some kind of flannel pajamas or a very itchy jumpsuit_, the being groaned as it tried to scratch itself. It would stop itself short as it realized that it did not even possess a pair of arms; seems that the cloak was in place of arms, which were highly desired as sand was felt up in a rather unwanted place.

_Oh…please don't tell me that I have to move around with all this down my crack… I'd chafe by the time I take 40 paces from here. Hold on…where is "here"?_

The being turned quickly to its left, taking a hastened step and accidentally tripped from its other leg, falling right its face upon the hot sand. Quietly huffing from the fall, it picked itself up using its knees and looked about its environment. Sand, sand, dune, sand, dune, dune, more sand, another dune, and a face print of its fall just a second ago. It kicked its print in utter frustration and roared out onto the land, which make it pause in fright. Was…that a chirp?

"Chirp? (Hello?)", it whispered, noticing the small pocket of light that circles around its head and disappeared as the sound faded into the wind. "Chirp? (Hello?)" It frowned as it realized that its words only came out as an airy, sing-song chirp, as if harmonizing to an unknown tune. "Is this the only way I can talk out here?" it chirped. "I really feel like a bird 'singing' like this…" And with every chirp, a small light flickered in unison, revealing a strange glyph. If that wasn't strange enough, the glyph from its chest hovered high in the small light pocket that echoed out with every chirp.

With another quick look around, it thought of looking for any kind of high ground. At least then it would have a clear idea of where it was and how to proceed from here. I quick shadow wiped across its field of vision. Wincing from the sudden change, it slowly looked for the cause. The sun light was bearable as the constant cloud of sand kept the rays from being too bright. Squinting to the area of sand just below the sun, it noticed a large dune to the left that rose up as big as a small hill. "Oh good, a vantage point; I do hope I can find my way from there" it chirped hopefully.

It took quick steps avoiding its rather stubby legs to avoid another fall. It noticed how it moved along the sand quite gracefully. _Must be some sort of dancer_, it wondered. The hill was ever flowing downward towards the red being as the sand poured down to its feet like a small stream. The trek upward was more work that bargained for. As soon as it finally made its way to the top, it noticed three slabs of stone: a small one to the left that tilted at 45 degrees to the right, and two taller ones, at least two feet higher than the red being, standing parallel to each other sharing faded dull ribbons that danced dryly with the wind. "Someone's clearly been here…" it chirped. "It almost looks like a starting point. But to what?" A bright light emitted from afar, causing the figure to look out in the distance. "Ooooooh~" it gasped in long awe. "That's what."

Poking out of a mass cloud of sand, a large forbidding mountain, with a glowing crevice that splits its peak, stood proud and tall in the far distance. The cloaked being couldn't help but take a long pause at the sight. The mountaintop carried a powerful ominous air, looking out of place from the grim view of the barren desert.

_**Journey… **_

An odd voice echoed in its head, snapping it out of its trance. _Journey? As in head for the top of THAT? That's…a long way_, it thought. And yet it could help but feel something about the idea and the mountain. It was like it was calling to it, urging on the feeling of completion. Was that the place where it could get the answers it was looking for? Who it was? How it got to this place? Why was it in the middle of the desert? And what that bright light was that saved it from the sands? _The Light!_ It forgot all about that light: the very thing that brought it back from an early grave. It gave a brave huff as it knew what it was going to do next. The who, what, when, where, why, and how was going to be answered as soon as it got to that mountaintop. With one step down the large dune, the cloaked one's journey began…


	2. First Confluence

**(BGM: The Call - Journey™ Original Soundtrack from the Video Game, starting from 1:15)**

Sliding down from the large sand dune that was fashioned with the three slabs of stone, the cloaked being felt a small glint of excitement as it could not help but wonder what it would see during its quest. The people that it may encounter, the sights that could make grown men cry, the light that saved it from smoldering silicon suffering. It chirped merrily as it sailed down the dune, and quickly lost its song from the first thing that stood along its path.

More slabs of stone, an easy hundred if it had to count. Each of them varied in different sizes but they kept a uniformed structure: a few feet tall, from one to five feet, made from an unidentifiable grade of rock, with a hexagon punctured out from the top and centered. The being was cautious and grew worrisome with every slab that it saw. There was no telling if any of those could of triggered a trap and made it relive its earlier burial. It shivered at the idea and swallowed its fear as it knew that there was no need to be afraid. It had a nameless faith in the light and felt that it was saved for a reason, and would be damned if it let some worn out stones stop it from beginning.

A small cloud of sand floated over most of the slabs and reinstalled its fear. "This desert doesn't like me much…" it fumed, and took a courageous step into the sand cloud. It winced as its eyes were pummeled by the pesky wave of sand. A sudden bump from a hard stone slab upon its leg didn't help its situation either. With a small chirp in frustration, it moved on, careful not to bump into another.

Halfway through the small field of slabs, the sand cloud finally cleared and revealed an awesome sight of golden yellow. Albeit, it was in the middle of a desert, dry and dismal as it was, it should not have been this breath taken. Golden waves of flowing sand as far as the eye can see, a yellow sky the seems to bend in with the sea of sand even at the blurry horizon, faint long patches of clouds that hovered dully in the sky, and a luminous sun that shone in a grand yet blurry shade of white. Despite the amount of slabs that poked out of the sand here and there like frozen flowers, the desert was a real sight to see.

It gathered enough courage to finally get close to one of the slabs. It stood with a dreary shade of grey and showed signs of degrading, possibly from countless sand storms. Taking a closer look it had a very faint engraving. It wasn't any word, if identifiable as a word, just a symbol, one that seemed close to its own glyph on its chest.

人

"Can't say that I know what that is…" it sighed. But before it knew it, a translation for the glyph surged into its head: Person. "Person? As in someone? Wait... Please don't tell this is a tombstone," it shivered. It quickly shot over to a neighboring slab and scanned hard for its own glyph.

只

"Just… That's more of a trait, isn't it? Thank goodness! It's not old farts buried here," it sighed in relief. It thought that even though one slab may read a clear name, it wasn't a name for a sentient being; it could fairly be names of ideals, fundamentals, or properties. It looked over three more slabs to confirm this idea.

通 花 耐

"Pathway, Orchid, and Endurance… Okay, I think it's safe to say that these are not tombstones. Maybe they're just offerings to the certain thing branded on it. Come to think of it, I have a similar symbol on me." It took a large inhale before letting out a loud fluttering tune of a chirp.

旅

"Braith," it uttered and stood flabbergasted. "Braith? Is that my name or my trait?" It pondered for a moment under the idea. "…Braith… Well at least it's better than being called Endurance," it chirped contently as it looked to its side to another slab. "Eggh, or that name…"

西

"…Wimp."

After its fun game of words with friends, Braith saw a crumbled platform just a few paces away. It seemed to have taken a terrible toll from years of being alone in the desert, completely torn down from its foundation and stood like a sobbing wreck. Braith shrugged off the platform at first as it begin its small uninterested trek to the platform. As it got to it, it was a smorgasbord of platelets, an eyesore to the majesty the desert offered. Braith was about to step away and around the platform before it noticed a dancing stream of light teasing it from up top. "Hey, that's the same light as before," it chirped happily and made its way up along the small wreckage of plates. And as it reached the top, Braith was stunned as it looked into the light that hovered just in front of a broken ashy statue that was half of its original design. This one was smaller, butterfly-like, and didn't have that level of brilliance that the light from before. "Well this is unfortunate… I wanted the big bright light, not this puny thing," it groaned. But it had to admit, it was as similar as the first one, as it had the same warmth despite its size. Braith drew closer and looked in the light which revealed to be another glyph.

祖

"Ancestry," Braith whispered. This one was different from the rest that was engraved in the slabs. It glowed in the same way its own glyph did with every chirp. This one was more constant, dependant, and yet pale, almost like it was on the brink of death. The glyph had a separate yet symbiotic shimmering spectral tail that danced around the glyph out of its own whimsy, the only part in the entirety of the glyph that was full of life. With the white glowing glyph were four red tabs of cloth that flew around it, lined with a gold hem on two sides and with each having their own personal glyph that were unidentifiable to Braith's eyes. As Braith moved closer to it, the glyph's tail frozen as if it was staring at Braith. Braith froze all the same, not in fear, but in unknown understanding, as if it had a bond to this particular glyph. It didn't have to wait long for the glyph to react as the glyph then peeled away from its initial shape and symbolism, and fluttered like paper flakes towards Braith. Braith stood breathless as the flakes flew past its face and surrounded it in a mild tornado of orange lights. It felt the warm of the glyph all around its body then felt it gather at the center of its back, right between its shoulder blades. Looking back for the cause, Braith saw that the flakes then sewed together onto its back, linking to the edge of its head cap into the scarf that matched the red tabs and Braith's cloak with a red foundation and gold hems.

"Oh, that tickles," Braith chirped. The scarf flowed free along the wind with its cloak. Looking back to the original spot where the glyph was, only the red tabs of cloth remained. "Wait, did I absorb that glyph? That was highly anticlimactic," Braith frowned as it walked forward towards the tabs. "And why do these paper thin things have the same colors as…" Braith trails off as the cloths flew towards its back, swiping along its scarf. Braith shivered from the sudden familiar warmth that came straight from its back. Looking behind it, Braith saw the cloths had their glyphs glowing brightly as its scarf now grew matching glyphs upon it. "Okay, neat trick. Am I a walking bag of tricks now?"

_**Wave your cloak and you will see…**_

Braith stood still as the red tabs circled it quietly in their poetic dance, stunned by the voice that whispered "Journey" in its head. "Hey, if you're going to speak to me, can it be a common thing so I know that I'm not alone?" Braith waited a moment quietly for an answer. "Ahh, I see. You won't speak until necessary. Beauty that," it groaned. _Okay, do I humor the strange voice in my head by giving into its suggestion, or ignore it and be left in the dark in a world that I clearly don't understand? Choices, choices… Guess it wouldn't hurt to see what would happen. I got nothing better to do_, Braith figured. And with that thought, Braith took a deep breath as it prepared for…whatever would happen. "Here goes nothing," it whispered as it waved its cloak in a wing flap-like motion, and before it knew it, Braith was floating upward into the sky, at least four feet into the air. _Oh good lord, I'm a flying bag of tricks?_ Gasping, Braith felt the weightlessness of its body; although unaffected by the air, it still had a feel of an air current just below it. It wasn't a natural current from nature, it was Braith's own and fully under its control. The freedom was short-lived as Braith came back down onto the platform, feeling the warmth of the glyphs leave its scarf. And like a pit crew, the red tabs brushed against the scarf refueling the scarf with warmth and flight power. _Ok, as long as I have glyphs on this scarf, I have the freedom of flight like a bird… Bird… Yeah, that's the 'chirping' talking_, Braith groaned.

With another wave of its cloak, Braith got a bit of a better view of the landscape. The sun was high and lingering to its left with a fairly large stone structure just under its shine, the mysterious mountain peak that teased Braith's eyes right in front of it, traces of multiple other structures that was along the way to the mountain, more stone slabs, and four pairs of four red tabs that danced close by some sand dunes near some of those slabs. Landing on the platform once more, it thought that the structure under the sun was pretty easy to miss and ignore if even seen, so that would be its first stop._ The mountain isn't going anywhere, so it wouldn't hurt to check out these ruins_, Braith thought. And with a quick and on-cue recharge, Braith was off with a hop and flutter of its cloak, gliding its way towards the structure in the sun.

Braith comes close to the structure, and from there, it moved slower and ever so cautiously. It appeared to be the ruins of a shrine, aging and battered, and seemed stand at least two stories, estimated from the pile of sand that smothered the remains. Judging from the intricate cuts of the unaffected portions of the said shrine, it must have been a sight to behold back with it was operational. There was a large hole on the right side of the second floor, and Braith couldn't help but feel interested in the history that place must of held within its ruined walls. Venturing inside, passing two more tall slabs as if placed as declaration, Braith eyed an empty picture frame on the wall in front of it. It had four stable and somewhat festooned slabs in front, two on each side. Each of them had their own glyph engraved that spelled a short sentence.

們的歷史

Learn of our history.

_**Call to the wall and see what became of us…**_

_If you insist, oh mighty voice in my head_, Braith thought sarcastically. "Reveal," it said out loud with a large chirp. The glyphs lit up and shimmered onto the empty hexagon openings of each slab. Gradually, the frame started to show a picture as a golden light shot from the bottom-left side of the frame and went to the right. In rapid succession, the light bounced then from right to left, then back to left to right, until the entire frame revealed to hold a mural. Braith could only take a few steps back and held its breath as its original thought came back to its head.

14 slabs, 14 bodies, resembling Braith aside from the white coloring, laying face down to the ground with their own glyphs shared between a slab and a matching body. Additional glyphs were written on the sides of the mural in etched-in slabs.

一旦身体杀的人，失去了在沙子里。

只有名称不得留。

**Lost in the sand once body is slain. Only the name shall remain.**

_Those… WERE tombstones…? Those…WERE people I was walking over!_ Braith gasped as horror filled its being. _That explains all the sand, and countless slabs poking out, the ruined buildings… I'm in a lifeless world… And I'm alone… _ Braith's knees buckled as it lost feeling in its legs and fell to the floor. It shuttered and had hard time breathing. A dead world… A place entrapped in sand, with the people and its history lost to the dunes. _No, that can't be, can it? What about that voice in my head? That light that saved me from the sand?_ Braith regained its composure as it carefully considered the events before now. _The light comes for me and raises me from the sands. I find some kind of lineage glyph that even looked like it was alive, if not barely. Red tabs of cloth dancing in the wind; those had to have been pieces of what once was, back when this place was alive and full of its people. The people may be gone, but the remains are in a sense everlasting. And that voice… It doesn't speak as if it's dying… _Braith took a long stare at the upper-leftmost body in the rural. _Whoever has been speaking to me is alive and well…and waiting for me, right? _Not losing a beat, Braith rose back up to its feet and took a long breath. "Well, I hope they're not impatient. Because I am, and leaving me out in a dying world does NOT sit right with me; nor, does speaking to me whenever they like. I got a bone to pick with them…well, if they have bones. I have…bones, right?" Shaking that thought off and stoking the fire of fierce anger within its core, Braith shot to the left of the mural out through the shrine's other empty cavity and towards the other structures.

Braith passed through a small number of slabs, careful not to step anywhere near or on them. Part of it was for respect of the dead, but other was a reminder to not think of the grim things it already faced. And from there, it saw the other structures, which were stuck in a crater, a giant crater of sand. A plethora of intricate cravings stole most of Braith's eyesight. A large circular platform stood at the very center and fashioned four long flags of cloth, about five other shrines looked down onto the center outfitted with a matching set of stairs, one shrine in which only a wall of it remained, and gigantic panels over three of the shrines that resembled pieces of a ceiling, a side set of stairs that seemed to lead onto some bare foundation, and a large crumbling wall that held a towering doorway most likely leading through mountains of sand. The whole foundation looked to have been the remains of large scale temple with the shrines as multipurpose rooms. The lone wall that stood to Braith's left-side view lit up as its eyes looked upon it; the wall showed the very same mural from the shrine behind Braith. _Please tell me that that's a mirage. I don't need a reminder of the truth beh_ind these tombstones, Braith shuttered. _Why would that mural appear somewhere else?_ Braith took another look around from the bottom of crater with the central platform 15 feet away. Then a thought occurred. Braith passed that newly distinguished wall and climbed the first nearby staircase into the shrine on the leftmost side of the center platform. From inside, Braith saw one mural frame on the left side of the shrine, and more fancy slabs adding grandeur to the interior. Looking back to lone wall to the left side of the first shrine, Braith figured that the wall was the rest of a broken down shrine. _So whatever murals I happen to see out here would get recorded into these shrines, right? Would that count for the Ancestry glyphs as well_, Braith queried. It looked around the rest of the crater, finding two more Ancestry glyph on the left side of the central platform, and another close to the fourth shrine, making its cloak extend more down its back. "More scarf, more flight time," Braith chirped proudly. As it made its way to the right side of the crater, Braith found a lone stairway that had 21 punctured stones that laid on two sides from the top, some stones intact and others crumbling to nothing, and with three of those punctured openings lit up with Ancestry glyphs.

"I thought so. This place serves like a library of sorts," Braith exclaimed. "Anything collected out in this dead world would immediately be recorded here. So out there are nine other murals to find besides the one found here, as well as 18 other Ancestry glyphs besides the three I found already. Great, a side quest… Find these things out in the dry wilderness, all while venturing up to a mountain that seems hundreds of miles away… Yay… Someone pack the water and s'mores." But it wasn't all bad. Braith figured that the best way to maneuver about ruins and long distances were to collect more glyphs, and to uncover better understanding of the history of this land would be to find more murals. _Too bad it's a long way from here to the mountain. Chances are I'm never coming back here. Too much "no life" for my taste…_

Braith fluttered over to the center platform, taking notice of four more large worn out ribbons that waved slowly against the breeze. The ribbons were attached to a unique patch of flooring: a large grated octagon at the center with eight small squares that aligned with each side of the octagon. Landing in between them all and onto the octagon, Braith saw how the ribbons moved closer to it. _Another set of red thingies in need of me, huh? Ok, I'm game. _It let out a loud chirp and the ribbons glowed fantastically with old glyphs. At the very peak of their dazzling brilliance, the lit ribbons then shrank from top to bottom into the platform, and two seconds later the platform began to rumble and the small grated floor that Braith stood upon began to open up. Panicking, Braith sped to its left away from the new hole it could have fallen into. _The ruins are trying to eat me now? I really don't need this… Too bad everyone here is dead. I would have complained to the designer of this entire hot death trap of a temple. Two words: housewarming carpets. _Dozens of small red tabs flew up into the air about eight feet. The little sounds of them fluttering against the wind sounded like them celebrating their freedom from their cage. Braith looked on in understanding. It felt like it could fly too after being freed from the sand. If it could, Braith would thank that light that freed it a thousand times over. But at the moment, the tabs seemed to have the same idea. They spun and danced over Braith in a cheerful embrace and stayed close by, as if they were waiting for a command from it.

_**Call for aide and get to the other side. Speak at the statue after…**_

The voice echoed through Braith's head again, this time clearer than before. Feminine and elderly, it spoke with a casual ease that could domesticate a wild beast. It actually got Braith to be relieved of its usual distaste of being spoken to at random, also to feel a bit remorseful. All this time, Braith felt that who or whatever was speaking to it was taking these past few minutes as an obscure joke or enjoying its misfortune. The fact that it heard a more feminine tone to the voice, Braith couldn't help but blush at the thoughts it had earlier. New glyphs would have been made for the words Braith would have used, words that were far on the smart and crude side.

_Okay, new attitude. Older generation making contact, so proper respect is in order. Hopefully it's not the type of elder that will go on random ramblings. I would hate not getting to the point of whatever it is I'd have to do… Female, huh? Wonder what exactly I am…_

Feeling calmer from a new understanding of the voice speaking to it, Braith chirped loudly, calling on all the dozens of red tabs. Their glows blinded it as they lifted it off the platform. They kept it aloft as Braith steered itself to the large wall that stood at the very back of the crater, standing a few stories tall and with an intricate threshold giving off a faint glow. At the base of the threshold were six large decorated slabs that stood in front of a six foot tall triangular statue that was in the same color and shape as the white beings from the first mural, only standing upright and facing the right. The head was fashioned white in the shape of a mask with small dots for the eyes, a darken shade of stone at its neck, and four isosceles triangles that stuck up from the bottom of its cloak. The eyes were haunting and vigilant looking outward towards the crater, and in the back of Braith's mind, something told it that this very statue was speaking to it. "Hello? I am here so please, if you are around, make yourself known to me," Braith pleaded. Its voice carried out to the slabs, which glowed in response and shared a single new glyph.

合

Confluence. Dozens of other glyphs spawned from the slabs, flooding the space in-between each and directly in front of the statue. The space was now glowing in a warm light with the glyphs spinning upward into the sky. Those same glyphs glowed onto the statue, coating its entire form in six rows with matching gleaming eyes. Looking towards the statue, Braith felt an essence lingering within it. Faint as the essence was, it was strong enough to be known. _I guess this is the one that was calling me. Time to meet my mystery guide_, Braith thought. Stepping into the small pulsing glow on the floor, Braith took a deep breath and sat down in a meditative position, crossing its legs between one another. Staring at the statue's gleaming eyes for one more moment, Braith shut its eyes closed, and awaited for a sign.

**(BGM: First Confluence - Journey™ Original Soundtrack from the Video Game)**

"**RED... OH BLOODY I WISH I NEVER LAID EYES ON THE COLOR."**

Braith opened its eyes in response to a wailing voice that seemed to resound from everywhere. It found itself in a bright white area, void of any shred of anything: color, sensation, even consistency. The ground seemed to be nonexistence, as it looked to Braith that it was standing on transparent ground. The same feel was for the sky, no air was even heard or felt; the space even lacked in a horizon. The only thing, which was in any way visible, was the haunting mountain, blending in with the new space with a gray outline, that stood far and high from Braith; it gave off its usual ominous light that shot out from the crevice and blended into empty bland background.

"**YOU DEAR CHILD, YOU CARRY MY SINS WITH EVERY STITCH OF YOUR BEING."**

Braith looked around for a brief moment, search for the source of the elderly feminine voice that spoke to it throughout the desert. A moment later, a towering silhouette appeared, blocking Braith's view of the mountain. _Elderly lady nothing, this is a GIANT! And I was going to go easy on her? …Calm down, let's not be blindsided by her size_, Braith thought. It would be rude not to hear what this new being had to say. "What do you mean? How am I part of whatever it is that you did? I was just `born' a few minutes ago," Braith argued.

"**TO FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE BORN INTO, I WILL START FROM THE BEGINNING OF OUR PEOPLE AND HISTORY..."**

The silhouette gave out a large glyph-less pulse. It didn't sound at all like Braith's chirping; it had a violin-like tone to it. A light emitted from the pulse, blinding it effectively from ever seeing the silhouette again. Only the majesty of the mountain remained. The depiction of the mountain altered from the white space into a black mural wall. The mountain was now drawn onto a gigantic wall. Colored in a faded gold shade, it stood proud and never lost any of its mesmerizing power it had on Braith.

**MT. CANTICLE, THE GIVER OF ALL LIFE'S BREATH AND HARMONY. IT SINGS LIFE INTO THE WORLD EVERY SO OFTEN. THE LIGHT IT GIVES OFF IS THE VOICE, THE EXPERIENCE, THE HOPE OF THE VERY MOUNTAIN.**

The mountain's light then stretched out into the heavens, in unison with the narration of the elder. The light overtook the sky, expelling random glyphs that overtook the dark sky background of the mural like stars. The glyphs rained down the right side of the mountain. As they approached the land, 10 glyphs lit up brightly and started to gain a shape of birds, in two horizontal rows of five, three on the top row flying to the left with the seven others flew to the right; the sound of twittering resounded in Braith's ears. Just under those birds grew eight plants from other glyphs that landed to the ground, six in equal size with two others smaller than the first. Just to the right of those very plants were five other glyphs that gleamed with a more rare light. As they finally took their own shape, Braith's heart stopped. They looked like it. They were robed figures with black mask faces, white head caps, and long white robes fashioned with gold and black embroideries at the bottom.

**WITH THE SONG OF CANTICLE CAME LIFE, ALL THINGS THAT GAVE OFF THEIR OWN SONG TO THE WORLD. THE WHIMSICAL BIRDS: WITH A SONG FOR EVERY MINUTE OF THE STEADY LIVING EARTH: HARMONIZING WITH THE GENTLE BREEZE. OUR PEOPLE, THE WOVEN: BLESSED WITH THE VOICE OF THE VERY MOUNTAIN ITSELF. **

Braith's head looked over to the right towards the final image of the mural, revealing four other Woven, encircled by a few more plants, gathering towards another shimmering light that pulsed of dozens of glyphs. The glyphs then scrolled upward towards the sky, fashioning into a similar red ribbon that fluttered gaily with the wind. An animated cloud of red tabs hovered just above the dancing ribbon.

**MT. CANTICLE WAS PLEASED THAT THE WOVEN SANG WITH THE UPMOST PEACE OF MIND AND NEVER HALTED IN PROMOTING THE WORDS OF THE MOUNTAIN FOR OVER A 1000 YEARS. AS A GIFT, MT. CANTICLE BLESSED OUR PEOPLE WITH THE TEXTILE, THE CLOTH-LIKE MATERIAL SEWED BY THE REMININANTS OF OUR VERY ANCESTERS GRANTING THE POWER OF FLIGHT. OUR PEOPLE WERE GLUED TO THE LAND FOR YEARS. THE TEXTILE GAVE US A CHANCE TO FEEL EVEN CLOSER TO THE MOUNTAIN'S SONG. I WAS ONE OF THE FOUR THAT FIRST FOUND THE CANTICLE MIRACLE.**

The entire mural flashed white, blinding Braith out of its trance from the tantalizing story of its people. Gaining its eyesight back, Braith saw the large doorway opening up slowly. The grinding of multiple gears echoed out from the gigantic wall. Loud pops wailed from the gears as the opened threshold locked the grated door in place. The light from the stone slabs and the statue faded down to their neutral states. Braith looked to the statue and felt the essence of the elderly female disappear from it. _Whoa, didn't expect all of that. What just happen_, Braith questioned itself. _Okay, okay, I am one of the Woven. A red woven at that, but at least I know what exactly I am, to an extent. Now, all of those ribbons I saw, the tabs and loose long line of red around this place, are part of the entire Textile, the "Canticle Miracle" as she put it. The gift of Mt. Canticle. _Braith took a look at the scarf on its back. _Ancestors on my back, and to think, I didn't want to think about the dead, now I have to move about with them._ Braith fumed for a moment longer before looking out at the hazing light that emitted along the pathway the doorway opened. _So…if all the glyphs and creatures made from the mountain were songs of Canticle, does that mean that that blinding light from before is one of them?_ "So many unanswered questions. I should have known that she was going to ramble on the past. I didn't even get the chance to ask what sex I am," Braith huffed. "Well, at least some things made sense. And I guess that many other things will be realized when I get closer to that mountain."

Taking a few steps past the statue, Braith noticed a faint image that hung just by the light of the other side of the pathway. Was that… _No, it couldn't be…_ Braith's heart quickened as it raced off into the pathway. The tale of Mt. Canticle did not make a lot of sense to Braith at the moment, but it was more than enough to keep it going onward. It swore to itself that it will uncover the secrets that its people had, what happened to all of them, the light it first saw, and the mountain itself. No matter how long it would take, "I'm going to know everything…"

(Author's Notes)

Whoo~ Chapter 1 completed. Took longer than expected. I do apologize ahead of time if my depiction of Journey is that enticing and keeping you on the edge of your seat for whatever will happen next. Bear with me, I plan on finishing this fanfiction by the end of this summer. Now I could explain some things, shouldn't I? Okay, I suppose that's fair. Here's the scoop:

Names of the entities – To make these being more noticeable and easy to familiarize, I gave them names as opposed to the actual game. The sentient beings: the Woven. Seems appropriate right? Living amalgamations of cloth, humanoid in shape. The Textile: tool used to make the Woven fly. And Mount Canticle; why this name for the mountain you ask? (Players asking surely.) The Woven seem to sing and chirp a lot within the game, so I made the mountain in relation to the singing. Canticle is a hymn, psalm, or other song of praise. The Woven already look like a group of priests chanting to multiple rituals anyway, so I feel that it works.

The Glyphs: Yea, the glyphs are now the official name in this fanfic for the symbols the player finds, not the murals. I decided to use Chinese and few Japanese writings to depict some glyphs for this story. I know that some writings are not the real/exact meaning of the given symbol, so just go with it. If you have ever seen some gameplay of the actual game, you would notice how some of the scenery, ruins, and even "cloth" creatures resemble some Asian origins. Other clues of this will be made sense of in future chapters. Now the main thing people will most likely be on my ass about.

Braith: Who or what the fluffy f**k is Braith? That's my name for our little Woven hero/heroine, I can't even freaking tell what it is. It's humanoid, leave it at that. For those playing the home game, the music for the game is to be as unidentifiable as possible when it comes to culture. So in reality, this facfiction is in a lost world, so think Land of the Lost, but with many Asian features. To add onto this idea of a lost civilization, I gave my character the name Braith: the Welsh unisex name derived from the word "birth". It literally means "diversely-colored", especially for the colors black and white, or red and white. Get the picture now players?

This is the direction I'm heading: up the mountain, gaining every "achievement" found in-game, and an epic epilogue. I know that each achievement cannot be obtained in one play through, so it's getting a few adjustments to make the experience more memorable. Hope you all are ready. Ch. 2 comes out soon. O.~


	3. Second Confluence

A deep resonating hum echoed throughout the entire way within the dry tunnel. Braith finally made its way to the end of the mosaic cut threshold of the tunnel that opened up from the large crater of a library. Braith couldn't help but christen that branch of desert the "Athenaeum Grave". Apart from that fond memory, another thought glued itself into Braith's head. That silhouette-red in color, and very blurry from the sunlight; it came from the far side of that very tunnel, and it looked a lot like Braith. _It could have been a mirage. Arid desert heat does fool the senses I suppose. _Although, Braith had to admit, things would be more comforting if it didn't have to go through this journey alone. Large elder aside, a physical companion would be nice. But in contrast, Braith wouldn't wish this kind of scenario to another. It's bad enough that it's handling all of the "wandering-aimlessly-through-the desert-with-dead-people-leading-you-up-a-distant-mountain". That kind of circumstance is bound to make others lose their minds. But at least for Braith, it refused to die out here as another statistic, ending up as another one of those tombstone slabs. The fact is it wasn't so hard. Despite the despair that hung all around the well designed fortifications of the ruins, it was a grand sight to see. Coming out of the long tunnel of a hallway, Braith gasped at another monumental wonder. How could ruins look ever so superlatively exalted?

Standing just along the edge of a torn down viaduct, Braith looked out at a flowing canyon. Boundless lengths of stone and sand were widespread left and right of Braith's vision. And from each side, it could see multiple other viaducts, torn down like the one it was on, with their firmly standing supports towering high over the sea of sand. Each of them was aiming directly towards the mountain, standing as strong and mysterious as the first time Braith ever laid eyes upon it. Waterfalls of sand cascaded out of small crevices throughout the entire canyon; the fluid yet droning sound of the sand pouring onto the sand floor resonated all around as the hum it heard when entering this canyon. With the gleeful breeze racing to and fro along the pillars, Braith would guess that this canyon was alive, still thriving despite no living thing was seen for miles. Down below, Braith could see dozens of Textile wandering aimlessly.

_Hmm, more of that miracle… What was it that Wovens are known for, singing?_ Braith let out a loud chirp that rang throughout the canyon. _The very words of the mountain and the Textile answers to it like small soldiers. Okay, if memory serves me well, I sang to it, and it revealed the next path to take. So if I sing to more of the Textile, I'll be that much closer to the Mt. Canticle…_

"Do I really have to sing? I find my voice rather raspy", Braith blushed. Aside from its personal criticism, Braith felt brave. Taking a large leap, it flew up to make it to the other part of the viaduct just less than a hundred feet away. But Braith came up short. Not realizing that its scarf held only half its flight power, Braith flew towards the rotted piece of the viaduct that stuck out from the sand floor.

"Oh no you don't!"

Leaning to its left, Braith managed to avoid landing face first onto the harshly grated stone walkway, and into a small pool of burning sand. Not even the tiniest bit comforting as it stood back up slowly.

_Oi, I have to learn how to land on my feet. I'm a floating piece of carpet for crying out loud_, Braith fumed.

Looking about on the sand floor, Braith huffed at the high wall it had to climb, with no clear way of telling how exactly it could make its way back up that viaduct, let alone cross it. _Please don't tell me that I'm stuck down here. Stop it Braith… You have the Textile all over this place. Just sing and you'll be back on your merry way. _Just to its right, Braith saw a long stitch of Textile waving dryly in the breeze. It hung just at the base of some oddly structured stones that were very different from the ruins in the canyon. Grey in color and pristinely cut, it looked like a separate piece altogether. _Some lawn ornament. That elder lady couldn't find anything else to beautify her rock garden? _The stone figure had three parts to it with its first segment owning what seemed to be a face. Much different from the one that Braith's people had. The Wovens' faces seemed far simplistic; as with this behemoth of a figure owned more of a defined head. Braith shrugged it off as a strange sense of art for the Woven. _This place really must have been a garden._ Walking over to it, Braith's scarf regained flight glyphs as it brushed upon the Textile dancing at the back of the stone behemoth. And with an accompanying loud note, the Textile regained its color and sank into the stone figure. A loud rumble quaked just below Braith's feet. The stone figure opened up multiple hatches amongst its segments, freeing at least a hundred Textile tabs into the air. They didn't stay stationary long, as the tabs flew towards the viaduct remains on the sand floor just a few feet away from Braith. They wove together into a red makeshift bridge, linking to the closest standing pillar. "That will work great", Braith chirped happily.

* * *

**(BGM: Second Confluence - Journey™ Original Soundtrack from the Video Game, repeat throughout)**

Taking a quick look around, it saw three more large Textiles waving throughout the canyon. It was the same number of gaps that were left on the viaduct. "Beautiful! I really will be out of here in no time!" Braith started to fly over to the next Textile just north of its position but was stopped short. _Wait… What was that?_

If it didn't know better, Braith could of sworn that it heard a chirp; the same kind of chirp that Braith always makes. Braith landed just before the next Textile, but it could not help but look to the left for the source of that chirping. _That can't be right… I'm the only one here. I-I-I am the last Woven, right?_

Forget the heart pounding tremor that it felt back when seeing the first mural, Braith almost had a full-on heart attack. Braith could not get over the fact that what it was hearing was another Woven. Not only that, but if it was indeed another Woven, it could not understand it. Braith found that kind of discomforting. Despite being of the same race, they wouldn't be about to understand each other?

_If that's true, then it is no wonder why the Woven failed at civilization. I would be highly frustrated if I could not understand any of my friends_, Braith concluded.

It still felt uneasy about the possible Woven out there in the distance. Its call was just to the far left of the first Textile it sung to. At first glance, the resonation of the chirp had glyph to it, same as Braith, but it could not see it clearly due to the distance and a sand cloud blocking the way. And it was much louder than Braith's, stronger even. With something like this happening a few yards away, Braith couldn't help but investigate. Moving back to the out-of-place stone figure, Braith looked out in the direction where it last heard the call. "Hello?" Braith shouted out in a loud chirp. And just two seconds later, a louder one came out from behind a pile of stones. _Okay, like that doesn't look like a trap…_ Feeling even more uneasy, Braith let out 3 more fast chirps. The answer: one long one, with three fast chirps following.

_Yep, language barriers suck…_ Despite listening to reason, Braith cautiously moved towards the calls. Just as it came close to the rock formation, Braith stood a mere five feet away, a fair distance to fly away at whatever would try and trap it. "Okay, I'm not moving from this spot until you show me your face. You hear me?!" A fast paced sand storm spun hastily past Braith and the rocks, blinding its vision for a brief moment. Braith tried opening its eyes to see something, anything. A flash of white overtook its vision, and it couldn't help but stand frozen in utter shock from what it saw.

An eerie shade of white from head to toe, thick rows of golden embroideries along the edges of the cloak and a thin line at the bottom of its head cap, and a matching white glyph-covered scarf. Standing just a foot away from Braith, and fairly a few inches taller, a familiar figure stood tall and not bothered in the slightest by the small sand storm. It stared at Braith, quietly and with a stoic face. If there was ever a time to react when a sudden figure appears next to you, just an inch away from your body and held a stance and stare that promised something WILL happen to you if don't move, this was the time. But as it happens, Braith seeing a live Woven standing before it just made swell up with untold emotions that it didn't think it would ever feel. _What the…_

The white figure echoed out two small chirps. But the glyph that it possessed…

鬼

Braith couldn't read it.

"Wh-what are—"

A sudden gust whirls about, halting Braith from quizzing its newly found brethren. And a moment later, the storm was lifted, but the white Woven…gone. Braith looked around for any traces of the white Woven, still flabbergasted from that random yet oddly fated encounter. With its emotions stirring vigorously, Braith could only muster up one thing out loud. "I'm not alone."

Another Woven was out there! Aged from the look Braith got, but wasn't beaten up like the Textiles. Its body was faultless in its seam, almost angelic. Like the elder. "Was that the elder I saw?" _No no, it couldn't have been. The elder was much taller and had no glyph in her speech._

And that gaze… Strong, wise, and, if it didn't know any better, tired. _Was it lost? Didn't it know how to escape from this canyon?_ That could not have been the case. It carried the same color as the elder. If anything it knew its way around, and carried an untold wisdom that questioned its presence here even further. _It couldn't have been waiting for me, could it?_ That didn't seem too far-fetched, considering that the statue of the elder reacted to Braith coming close to it. Braith shook its head, ignoring the incoming questionnaire that it almost forced upon itself. _I better not thing of it too much. All that matters is that I'm not alone anym-. Braith has to hold its thoughts as it saw a weird shadow stretching out within its own. "What the—Oof!"_

A weary note echoes out from Braith as it shook off its daze. _Okay, that knocked the wind right out of me, and I think I'm chalk full of hot air if I think it over._ What hit it? Was it the white Woven? Was it a trap after all? Anger swelled up in Braith's core as it stood back up with a grim hunch and turned furiously to its attacker. "Okay you wiseass, you have any idea what world of hurt you just landed onto? I'm gonna make you eat sand and turn you into my own personal punching bag! YOU HEAR ME!?" Braith blinked as it realized just who exactly it was shouting to. "Wait… Was I always next to a mirror?"

Tilting its head, Braith studied the exact replica with an ever more of a puzzled look. "Okay, I'm not enjoying these surprises anymore." What was there for Braith to see? Red humanoid shape, gold-trimmed head cap and cloak, glyph-covered scarf – it was Braith through and through. _Wait. Glyph-covered scarf? Mine emptied out when I flew over here. _Braith leaned a bit closer for a better look at its features. Thinking back to that sudden encounter with the white Woven, it looked like that one had an extra design on its face, a downward arrowhead for a makeshift mouth; the same design the elder had, except with a white face from the usual black face Braith and the white one had. Tilting its head to the other side, Braith noticed that its cloak was starting to glow. Looking around, it noticed that it wasn't close to any particular Textile tabs. So, what was causing it? Looking down, Braith noticed that the glyph on its "mirrored" chest wasn't the same as its own, nor could it read it.

宋

"Hello?"

"Chirp!"

Braith tripped back trying to step away from the source, only to land face first into the rock. If it would have hit the floor any harder, Braith's face would have been permanently imprinted into the stone. "Hurt! Very much hurt!"

Struggling back up onto its feet, Braith turned around to see the face of its replica studying if it was alright. That wasn't a mirrored image. That was another Woven… "Another Woven!?"

Still glowing from their proximity, Braith blushed as this new Woven was fairly taking up more and more of its personal space, bombarding it with a series of chirps that made Braith not want to ever sing again. "Okay! Stop!"

This was another Woven. Just a few inches shorter than Braith as well. Did that mean that it was younger? The smaller Woven spun around Braith with dizzying speed, seeming to enjoy its company. It found content in wrapping itself around Braith's scarf. Braith got a lot more nervous. Not only was there another Woven actually alive and well, but it seemed that it was just as lost as Braith was, albeit seemingly a lot more carefree. And if it was truly younger than Braith, the chances of escaping untold dangers grew exponentially. Now it was responsible for another's life. _How could I possible take care of another? I can barely take care of myself!_

Looking back to the smaller Woven, Braith wanted to fully establish one thing: language.

"Hello? Can you understand me?"

The other Woven responded with a tilted head and two moderate notes.

_Well that's not answering my question… Guess it's just as confused as I am. This will go nowhere fast_, Braith thought. _Hold on. Can Wovens recharge each other? _Looking back at its scarf, Braith noticed how it was coated with glyphs. It could fly again. _This is a "we're all connected" thing, right?_

A small light shimmered off the corners of their eyes, revealing yet another Ancestry glyph. The other Woven wasted no time in getting blessed in its light while Braith pondered. Was that white Woven standing here to lead it here? To help find the rest of the glyphs and clues to their peoples' past? It could have been a disciple of the Elder; perhaps it was her way of showing Braith more of the history she didn't fully have time to say about their people. For a dying race, it makes more sense to develop some kind of unity through troubled times, or suffer under the sands of time, buried deep within and lost forever. In that case, Braith would help out in any way it could. It was alone, for a good half a day. And now suddenly, three others like it appeared. Two of them knowing the way, and another one who was as lost as it was. If anything, the two of them needed to keep together. Strength in numbers right?

Braith moved next to the smaller Woven and became blessed in the Ancestry glyph's light, enhancing its flight time. And with a welcoming nudge, Braith got hold of the other's attention. Walking off towards another Textile, Braith turned back and looked to the other, "Come with me." It was sure that its brethren couldn't understand it verbally, but it nodding in response and walked straight to Braith's side knowingly and willingly.

_Chances are we are bound to be heading in the same direction. Mt. Canticle is calling to us._ Braith took a long minute staring into the light that shot from the mountain's crevice. The smaller Woven looked on as well, as if in tune with Braith's thoughts. Just after that minute, a familiar light was seen flying from the behind the canyon walls. It was the same light that saved Braith hours ago. The vibrancy and warmth was all too familiar. Braith couldn't help but float upwards towards the sky as high as it could and call out to the light.

"THANK YOU!"

It was no real response as far as Braith could tell. But for a split second, it felt a grand connection. As the light flew away light a shooting star back towards the Athenaeum Grave, words gathered up within its psyche.

C'est pour celaque je suis née.

I was born for this.

Landing back down next to the smaller Woven, Braith continued to look onward at the fluttering light until it vanished out of vision. "I was born for this, huh?" Was the light meant to save Braith, to save a dying people? Braith couldn't tell, but it was eternally grateful. That is until it was blindsided by the eyes of the other Woven in its face, outwardly inquisitive of what just happened. Braith didn't know how to answer. It just knew that it was happy to be alive. A distant chirp was heard in the distance; just behind the stone structure that held onto the snagged Textile Braith was heading for after meeting the smaller Woven. Looking in the same direction, both of them saw the blur of white from a cloak. Braith grinned knowingly and walked in the same direction with the smaller Woven just behind it. If this white Woven was to help it along their journey, it would be foolish not to look forward to its guidance.

_I guess the ghost of this land is leading us to more of the truth. Good, some answers are worth looking for. So then, keep helping us like this, if you are allowed to….Ghost._

Another chirp was sung just as Braith finished its thought. Smiling, Braith took off from the sand floor and floor towards its newly named spirit guide, Ghost. The moment was short lived as a sudden bump on Braith's head brought it crashing down back into the sand face first. Groaning, it saw the smaller Woven hovering close with an apologetic face.

_And I surely look forward to roaming these dunes with this….Sprite. _

Picking itself up, Braith floated up to Sprite's altitude, leading the way over to more stone behemoths that had two large Textiles upon their backs. Braith nudged Sprite to take the one to their left while Braith handled the one on the right. And with poetic unison, the two Wovens sang and made the Textiles shimmer and sink into the behemoths. The stone's segments opened up with multiple hatches releasing many Textile Tabs into the air, keeping both Braith and Sprite afloat before speeding off towards two other empty spaces between viaducts. And within a moment, three-fourths of the newly made bridge was finished.

_Okay, we are making great progress. Just one more Textile and we're out of here. _

Sprite cheered with bliss after seeing the fruits of their labor. Braith gave off a knowing smile, for this sudden alliance has proven to have quite a few perks. For one, flying next to each other kept them aloft for much longer than either of them alone. Two, they could both cover a lot more ground if Textiles were surrounded in one large area. Braith guessed that it wasn't so bad having Sprite around, despite it being so carefree about everything. Braith had to envy Sprite about that. Some are just blessed with a lot more optimism and freedom than others.

A small flash gathered of the corner of Braith's left eye, accompanied with a familiar chirp. Looking towards that direction, it saw Ghost waiting patiently next to a small cave opening slightly hidden from a waterfall of sand. Braith took a step forward towards the cave as Ghost ran into it. But before Braith could fly after their guide, it was blind sighted by another bump against its head as Sprite flew over it, making Braith crash onto the sand below the stone behemoths once again.

_…__I think I'm going to hold true to my punching bag threat if Sprite doesn't stop treating my head like a stepping stone…_

Picking itself up once again, Braith saw Sprite exit out from the cave, looking around in confusion. Braith noticed a small light from within the sand fall, and how Sprite's scarf grew a small bit.

_Ah, that's it. Ghost was leading us to an Ancestry glyph. Wait. Where's—_

It finally caught onto Sprite's confusion as Braith entered the cave itself. The glyph dazzled and danced towards Braith, gifting it an extension of its scarf. But that was all that was in the cave, no Ghost. "Wow, I think I named it appropriately," Braith snickered.

Coming back out of the cave, it saw Sprite flying off to the right, over towards the other large Textile Braith was heading pro before it met with Ghost. Braith caught up with Sprite with the help of a small draft from a much larger sand fall, surfing ahead of Sprite. After the draft faded from keeping Braith going forward, it looked up and saw Sprite coming in for a crash landing, in which Braith jumped away from before it could make another face plant. "Oh no you don't! You've had your fun in stamping your feet on my head." Sprite didn't seem bothered by the lack of Braith's cushy head as it sped off for the Textile. Shaking its head, Braith followed for a moment before feeling Ghost's song echo out for attention. Looking behind it, Braith saw Ghost standing idly on top of another sand fall while next to another Ancestry glyph. Catching the hint, Braith turned around to call back Sprite back for the glyph; not that it needed to as it met Sprite's foot face first. Sprite already caught Ghost's call when Braith did and had already made a speedy jump for their guide. Unfortunately, Sprite's speed proved to be a bane in Braith's existence …and back ...and face. Landing down into the sand from Sprite's jump, Braith kept completely still to avoid any more of Sprite's childlike negligence inflicting upon its wellbeing.

_If Wovens can produce offspring, I'm never having children…_

Braith waited until it was Sprite fly back towards the Textile, seeing the small Woven's scarf appear even longer. After making sure that its face wasn't going to be part of any more abuse, Braith was off towards the top of the sand fall, where Ghost had already disappeared from. It got the hint that Ghost liked merely to direct, not be so up close to anyone else. As discomforting as that idea was, Braith could understand the idea of personal space. Sprite was violating its space just a few minutes ago. And being so different from the rest of them, Braith could guess that it was an ongoing occurrence for Ghost. Ongoing? That sparked a thought.

_If that's true, then Ghost has been doing the same thing for a long while, if not months, maybe years. Does that mean that lost Woven are common? And Ghost has to lead us up the mountain by itself? _That would explain Ghost's appearance a bit more. It was pristine to a glorious extent, but Braith noticed how worn out it seemed. The embroideries at the bottom of Ghost's hem of its cloak, it must have been gained from experience. That must be tiresome, to help its race countless times through the barren desert up a steep mountain and repeat the process over and over again for Canticle knows how long… _If only it could-_

Braith thoughts were dismissed after hearing Ghost call out again; this time from underneath the sand fall. After gaining the Ancestry glyph, Braith leaped down inside yet another cavern, this time, housing an empty mural. Stepping onto the flat foundation, Braith called out towards the stone slabs. The four slabs lit up in familiar brilliance as the glyphs "Learn of our history" flashing brightly. From bottom to top, the mural finally showed Braith its part of the story… Well, at least half of it, or something. "What the…"

Whimsical streamers of wind were etched at the mural's top. And just below were various buildings of different sizes, covered at the bases with large sand dunes swarming 25% over the rest of the mural. Was that it? No small poem to tell what Braith is supposed to be seeing? It didn't matter much as Braith could hazard a guess at the meaning. It was already a fact that it knew; the civilization of the Wovens were buried within these very sands. Or at least by what the mural depicted, most of it was buried. "I guess I'm never going to stop being reminded of where I am exactly… Ghost! Was there a point in trying to depress me?!"

Seething from the cruel reminder of its situation, Braith moved from underneath the sand fall and back into the wide space of the canyon. Looking upwards, it saw that the rest of the bridge was finished. Sprite must have sung at the last segment of the Textile while Braith was finding the mural. Talk about a breathtaking sight. The stitching of the Textile, its abundance of crimson coating sprinkled with glyphs. It was a lost work of art. Hidden away within the confines of a barren canyon, and giving hope to those who would seek out a way out from the air of death and despair that surrounded it; it was the bridge to a brighter future. The Tapestry Bridge. The fourth part of the bridge was glowing with various glyphs. Redirecting its vision to that area, Braith saw Sprite gliding along the bridge. Sprite gave off a triumphant cheer after reaching the end. "Oi, decided not to wait for me?" Braith called out. Looking down, Sprite saw Braith running for the beginning of the bridge. It cried for Braith to hurry up so they could continue on. But before the small Woven could continue, a violent gale passed thru the canyon. The second segment of the finished bridge fluttered ferociously for a long moment before tearing away into small Tabs of Textile. And like a school of fish or flower pedals drifting in the wind, the Tabs swam against Braith, knocking it back a few feet towards the left. Pulling itself off from the ground, Bratih looked up and saw that very same part of the bridge torn to shreds. Horror and frustration peeked at Braith's core, feeling that its journey was halted by the very canyon it was trapped in.

"No no NO! This—I'm not… ARRRHH!"Braith kicked the sand from its feet for a good minute before looking back up towards Sprite, who looking ever more worried by the second. From that moment, Braith collected itself from its tantrum and tried of thinking of a way out. This life seemed grim already as Braith thought it was alone all this time in the beginning. But after meeting Ghost and Sprite, things didn't seem all so glum. It didn't want to go back to feeling so alone, and surely didn't want Sprite to go back to that mode either. The look on its face gave it away. Despite appearing and acting so lively and free-spirited, Sprite was afraid of feeling alone. That made Braith's heart stop as it could recall when it felt that way. Scared, angry, alone: it actually felt like giving up at the beginning, for a brief second. And now, Sprite was feeling that way. And being seemingly younger than Braith, it would have no quarrel in giving into the feeling.

"Not happening… Not while I'm still living," Braith vowed silently.

Braith fluttered off towards the beginning of the bridge, eyeing down the long pathway that lead up and out of the canyon. The only thing in its way was a large gap, dozens of feet apart from the previously coupled viaducts. Sprite looked on, paralyzed with terror on the edge of the bridge with Ghost appearing to its right. They both stared on as Braith shot forward, gliding onto the first segment of the bridge, emitting a rare brilliance of light as its body brushed against the Textile. "The door to new life is there in front of me, and I AM walking through it, with Sprite by my side!"

All of the canyon's usual voices of sand pouring within it seemed to deafen as Braith flapped its cloak. The fire in Braith's eyes rivaled the sweltering sands as it rose up higher and higher. Braith felt its flight energy diminish with each flail, feeling the edge of the other side of the bridge just out of reach. A gasp escaped its being as it started to drift downward. And at that time, Braith caught a glimpse of Sprite, feeling it ready to cry out in grief as it was just about to lose its new, and possibly, only friend.

"DAMMIT, LIFT!"

Braith gave a thundering call, reverberating all throughout the canyon. The glyph within its chest lit up as bright as the very light that saved it. Its back flared as its scarf stretched outward towards the beginning of the bridge, tapping onto its surface and gaining the energy enough for another moment of lift. And lift Braith did, but much too quickly from where it was positioned. Braith shot upward but its lower half slammed into the base of the designated viaduct. It fought against the hard stone, climbing for the top and rolled onto its apex in utter exhaustion. Breathless and shocked beyond belief, Braith looked up towards the dull orange sky. "I made it…" it whispered to itself. Looking to its left, it saw Sprite closing in with tearful cries vibrating from its being, but not that Braith could hear it. Everything went quiet as it felt the last bit of its energy slip away. Smiling from its personal achievement, and seeing even Ghost close in slowly with admiration, Braith breathed out its last few words before it blacked out… "I…flew through the Threshold. Now Sprite…"

_Don't step on my face… I'm in no way a doormat…_

* * *

The familiar poetic tone of a Woven's song echoed out from the darkness. A small speck of light poured in and blinded the senses for a brief moment. The sun welcomed Braith as it regained consciousness. Braith couldn't help but grin at feeling heat again. Despite wallowing around in the blistering heat for hours, it was a healthy remainder that it was still alive. But while forcing itself up slowly, it winced in pain as another entity welcomed it back to life, whose ear-deafening cries threatened its health once more. Sprite hid its head into Braith's shoulder as it cried from the scare Braith put it through. It head butted Braith with every chance it had, in which Braith got the message loud and clear: to never scare Sprite like that ever again.

"Okay, okay. I promise. Just let be breathe for a second please? Lungs or no lungs, I got the wind knocked out of me, literally," Braith teased.

Looking up to Braith with several tears clinging up in its eyes, Sprite reluctantly got off it, giving it room to breathe. Braith slowly stood up and shook off the rest of the numb feeling it had at its legs. It had to have been a few hours since it took that death defying jump. The sun was already ways after the point of midday. Another two hours or so and it would be close to sundown. Looking around to gather its bearings, Braith was that it was at the end of the Tapestry Bridge, high above the canyon.

_Hmm, Ghost and Sprite must have carried me the rest of the way. If only I didn't worry them so much with that risky move. _

Looking back towards the segment Braith attempted to reach, another thought occurred to it. "How in the world did I manage to make that jump alone?" Apart from the two segments of Textile that Braith was flying between, there was no other piece of the Canticle Miracle around it that could have given the extra boost needed to reach the other side. _Perhaps a single Tab caught within a breeze and brushed against me mid jump. Maybe…_

Shaking the thought away, Braith looked about for Ghost. If anything Ghost would have the answers that it was looking, plus Braith wanted to say thank you for all that it has done so far. But in true fashion to its name, Ghost was nowhere to be found. "Guess that was a little too much to ask for," Braith sighed. Sprite closed the distance between them and looked up to Braith with its usual inquisitive look. Braith smiled down to its small companion and nudged it gently, letting Sprite know that all is well. Sprite chirped happily as it spun around Braith in fast circles, dancing back into its mode of carefree innocence. Braith shook its head as it knew that some things will never change. _It's better this way. You don't have to grow up yet, little Sprite…_

Looking to the rest of the top of the walkway of the bridge, Braith saw a series of stone slabs standing to the sides of a recognizable statue. It was standing at the front of shimmering fall of sand, with its very sound across the grated flooring felt like the slabs were humming dutiful hymns in prayer. Walking up towards it with Sprite following close-by, Braith called out for confluence with the Elder. Glyphs and streams of light spiraled around the slabs towards the statue and the space in front of it. Braith followed through as it took a seat within the small circle of light. It looked to its left to see Sprite sitting next to it, smiling to Braith with a triumphant nudge. Braith nodded and nudged back before closing its eyes to speak with the one that had a story to finish.

* * *

Braith blinked as its eyesight caught on to its new environment. It was the same white void as before, the same place that the Woven Elder seemed to call home. Looking around, Braith was shocked to see that Sprite was nowhere to be found. "Wait, hold on. Where's Sprite?"

YOUR LITTLE FRIEND? IT'S HAVING ITS OWN CONFLUENCE WITHIN ITS MIND. ALL OF OUR KIND GOES THROUGH THE COURCE OF UNDERSTAND BY THEMSELVES. BUT REST ASSURED, "SPRITE" IS GOING THROUGH THE EXACT SAME THING AS YOU ARE. YOU WILL BE WITH YOUR FRIEND SHORTLY.

Braith looked upward to a familiar female that towered over it like a parent does a child, which is if the parent was as tall as small temple.

PLEASE CHILD, COME CLOSER. LET THIS OLD SOUL HAVE A BETTER LOOK AT YOU.

Braith blushed as it followed through with the Elder's soft request. She was about three sizes taller than Braith. Looking up towards her had it benefits since Braith could finally see her clearly. Dramatic triangle-like embroideries rose up from her bottom edge of her cloak to about her knees, a three ringed golden hem at the head cap, and, as seen from their pervious encounter and the recent murals, a white mask with an extra design at the bottom resembling a mouth or some kind of beak of a bird. That would exclaim the flying and singing as Braith thought. The outline of the Canticle Mountain resonated from behind her, adding on to the mystery that is her. But Braith saw her eyes which weren't much of a mystery at this point. She was on the verge of crying upon looking at Braith.

MY MY, YOU ARE THE SPITTING IMAGE OF OUR RACE SO LONG AGO. STITCHING DIFFERENCES GRANTED, BUT IT GIVES MY HEART GREAT JOY TO FINALLY SEE MY PEOPLE RISE AGAIN. I'M VERY HONORED TO BE IN YOUR PRESENCE.

"My presence? You're the one that makes me look like a child here. Plus you're donning a white cloak, which I'm sure has got my red hue beat when it comes to brilliance. "

BRAILLIANCE? MY DEAR CHILD, THE ONLY STROKE OF BRAILLIANCE HERE IS THAT YOU ARE LIVING PROOF THAT OUR OLD WAYS DIDN'T DESTROY US ENTIRELY. YOU ARE THE KEY TO OUR SECOND CHANCE, THIS TIME FOR THE BETTER.

Braith winced as it felt yet another wave of responsibility come upon it, and it didn't even know what exactly it was charged to do. "Milady, I think it is best that you continue your story from before so I know what exactly is happening." With closed eyes to hold back her tears, the Elder came upright and voiced out another glyph-less tone.

QUITE RIGHT…

The focus came back to the sudden appearance of the gigantic mural from Braith's first visit. Just to the right of the last image, where the Woven have just found the Canticle Miracle, the Textile, stood another Woven that was at the base of a gradually escalating set of viaducts.

WITH THE POWER OF FLIGHT NOW A PART OF OUR PEOPLE'S HERITAGE, WE GAINED A NEW PERSPECTIVE OF THE WAY THINGS WERE.

Three more Woven appeared standing on more stone walkways looking towards Textile Tabs fluttering freely next to them.

NO LONGER WERE WE BURDENED TO KEEPING TO THE GROUND. WE WERE FREE TO COME EVER CLOSER TOWARDS THE SKY, AND EVEN TO MT. CANTICLE ITSELF.

The Tabs stitched together and sped into the walkway, filling it with its presence until it reached a new set of towers, each of them jutting out to the sky with no clear purpose at first glance. But as the Textile made its way into the towers, they lit up with an ever familiar luminosity that made things a clearer. "You held them in one place?"

YES. AS IT WAS, THE TEXTILE MOVED FREELY WITH THE WIND, SO WE LOST A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT IN THE BEGINNING. WE HAD TO KEEP THE REST STATIONARY FOR OUR FUTURE PLANS FOR OUR PEOPLE. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF OUR GREATEST TRIUMP AS MT. CANTICLE'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. TO BE OF THE SKY, WHERE WE BELONGED.

* * *

The vision of the mural faded into a bleak shade of white, bringing Braith's sight back towards the Elder's statue losing its light. And with that light fading, a significant portion of the sand fall opened up to reveal yet another pathway. Now standing before the statue, Braith was in deep thought as it considered everything.

_That's funny. I figured from their large size, it would be difficult for them to actually fly. Then again, I'm basing this off of the Elder's presence. So they kept the Textile stationary for their use. And as the Elder said before, much of it was lost. It's most likely further out, so we'll be able to travel more efficiently with all of that Textile out there… Why me? Why am I the key to our people's rebirth?_ _I'm just another lost Woven, just like Sprite. And why are these other Woven all white except for Sprite and me? That just makes me feel like we're cursed or something… Cursed… Didn't the Elder say something about that the first time? Like… I was stained with blood. Woven blood? _

Braith looked down at his being, feeling even more uneasy with a grim idea lingering within its mind. "Please don't tell me that I'm this color because of our people's deaths. Is it really necessary to be a living testament to their mistake?"

Braith looked to Sprite who was already looking back, confused from Braith's personal tirade. If there is one thing that Braith is known for, is its knack for talking to itself. _I've got to stop doing that… No one can understand me anyway so why do I feel the need to said things out loud? I guess that quiet makes me uneasy… And I can't forget that Sprite is paying for it too- my quips and the old ones' mistake. All these answers are starting to tick me off. I rather take arts than history. _

Braith leaped over the Elder's statue with Sprite following closely. A sharp flair of heat rose from within the newly opened threshold, accompanied with bright sunlight. _More sand and sun, great…_

More of the story was coming into light, but most of it was still muddled to Braith's understanding. Something seemed off with the Elder's story; she was holding back some secret. Braith was starting to regret continuing onward, but the pull of the mountain kept it going. Not only that, but Braith wanted to make sure that Sprite go along safety to their final destination. And aside from its own personal vendetta against being like the rest that have already died, Braith still wanted to know how things came to an end. All and all, Braith know that there was one thing that was important at this point: survival. If not for the future of its people, then it would live on for itself and Sprite. Come what may…

* * *

(Author's Notes)

I humbly apologize for this late issue of Journey. Thing have taken turns for the worse in my end and was taken back from continuing. That is until a certain event that happened less than a week ago. This chapter is dedicated to my friend Kim. Love you always.


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